Many applications for wood products call for the wood to be bent or curved. Several methods for bending wood are well known in the art, Wood may be steamed at high temperatures until pliable, and the wood may be bent into a desired shape. The wood may harden in the bent shape as the heat and moisture from the steaming decreases, However, steaming the wood is labor intensive and time consuming. A second method may involve introducing chemicals to plasticize the wood. However, the chemicals can lead to discoloration of the wood and other long-term issues.
A third method for bending wood involves kerfing. During a kerfing process, a saw may make parallel linear partial-Thickness cuts in a wood component. The wood may be bent around the kerf lines. However, the tolerance of mechanical kerfing methods may limit the ability of kerfing on thin wood products.